Ready 2 Rumble Revolution Review

By Oli Welsh Published 20 March, 2009

Not ready 4 this.

Version tested: Wii

"Great fun and easy to play for all the family!" shouts the back of the box. Well, no. Like altogether too many third-party Wii games, the only way in which Ready 2 Rumble Revolution is accessible is that everyone - no matter their age, gaming aptitude, IQ or marketing profile - will find it equally unwieldy, complex, unpredictable and annoying to use.

Ready 2 Rumble Revolution spruces up Midway's 1999 featherweight champ Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, only under an Atari banner this time. Not a bad idea in theory. Ready 2 Rumble was a lively boxing game that channelled the punch-drunk cartoon characters of Nintendo's Punch-Out!! (also due a Wii remake soon) in a more conventional two-player beat-'em-up. It swaggered, japed and hollered its way into the hearts of many, especially in a crisp Dreamcast version, and not without reason.

Actually, it's 2000's Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 that's the direct inspiration here. That game famously featured Bill and Hilary Clinton as unlockable characters, along with once-great pop freak no-I-didn't-get-tickets Michael Jackson, and rhyming basketball giant Shaquille O'Neal. Revolution takes this idea and runs with it, adding a whole rogues' gallery of unendorsed, caricatured "slebs" under pseudonyms. Naturally, it updates the idea. To round about 2001.

You get Brad Pitt as he appeared in Snatch (2000), Jack Black in a schoolboy uniform (School of Rock, presumably - 2003), David Beckham with a mohawk (2001), and portly liggers John Travolta and David Hasselhoff, whose irrelevance is a universal constant. It feels like a missed opportunity. They're passably amusing likenesses of a bunch of pretty famous people, but there's nothing especially exciting about making them beat the crap out of each other; nothing with the stellar irreverence of making Gordon Ramsay tussle with Vladimir Putin, say, or having Barack Obama punch Lily Allen's lights out. (Or, for that matter, getting 50 Cent to shoot up the Middle East.)

'Ready 2 Rumble Revolution' Screenshot 1

Well they don't call it The Curious Case of Benjamin Remote Waggle, do they.

Unique selling-point so shrugged off, it's left to the looks, structure and mechanics of the game to recommend themselves. It's a fairly slick presentation, bold and solid - although the art style has a definite whiff of the tourist-trap street cartoonist, and the boxers' extravagant appearance isn't matched by their stilted animation. You can have some fun turning out grotesques with the create-a-boxer mode though - I became quite fond of simpering lightweight fop Bob "Nasty Boy" Doubles, with his purple hi-top and handlebar moustache.

It's a pretty complete package, too. Multiplayer is well-serviced with quick match, team match and full tournament modes. There's an Arcade mode, and a career Championship that alternates weekend bouts with weekday training mini-games that build up your fighter's stats. The training mini-games can also be played separately, should you so desire (you won't). Boxers are unlocked in arcade mode, while earning and spending cash in a Championship unlocks a wide range of character customisations.

As for the mechanics... well, I can't really report on the mechanics, because between me and them stand Ready 2 Rumble Revolution's control scheme: a solid wall of impenetrable, dysfunctional, impossible, self-defeating motion-control idiocy.

You can throw straight, hook and uppercut punches, with left or right hands, to the face or body, all in light or heavy variations. You can also duck, lean, block and throw weaving counter-punches. There are quite a few commands, in other words, and they're transmitted to the machine via a ludicrous semaphore of gestures with the remote and nunchuk, sometimes requiring button modifications as well as not one but twodirectional movements - heavy punches are built up with an initial move of that controller "outwards" (left for the nunchuk, right with the remote). You then jerk forward to throw a straight blow, up for an uppercut, or back inwards for a hook.

There are several fundamental problems with this. One: it looks and feels nothing like boxing. The frantic, spasmodic waving about is more like trying to conduct an orchestra playing the complete scores of Tom & Jerry while drunk, or attempting to translate Street Fighter into sign language. It makes no intuitive sense whatsoever, and offers zero cathartic, tactile fun - which is surely the whole point of gesture controls in the first place.

Two: the gesture detection isn't good enough, especially for the two-step heavy punch commands - but actually, for all of them. Virtually none of the commands (barring a straight, light punch) is reliable, even if it's simple - moving the nunchuk and remote in unison for a duck or weave, for example. The occasional slip often mars gesture-based Wii games built on standard gaming foundations like New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis - but Ready 2 Rumble enters a whole new realm of misinterpretation and command failure. They're both speaking a foreign language, but where Power Tennis is fluent if imperfect, Ready 2 Rumble didn't even bring the right phrasebook and is asking for directions to the parrot rehabilitation factory.

Three: it's just too slow. These commands take time to input, time to register and, even before that, time (quite a lot of it) for your brain to figure out which nonsensical spasm your arm should be making. They completely destroy the rhythm, and rhythm is the crucial underpinning of any successful fighting game.

And that takes us to the fourth, and perhaps biggest, problem with Ready 2 Rumble Revolution: one that might not even be solved if it supported button-and-stick input. It has no rhythm. It's the white guy on the dancefloor.

'Ready 2 Rumble Revolution' Screenshot 2

The character names show you where the humour's pitched.

It was only when I came to play the training mini-games that I realised this. These simple, if poorly imagined, call-and-response rhythm action games are mystifyingly difficult, and this time, I sensed it wasn't the technology at fault. I just couldn't, try as I might, slot into the game's rhythm; understand when it wanted me to do what it wanted me to do. We stumbled and cursed and stepped on each other's toes. It was like trying to tango with an arthritic great-aunt.

Ready 2 Rumble Revolution has botched controls, faulty technology and unsympathetic style, but I suspect there's a half-decent arcade fighter residing somewhere underneath it all. Even if there is, though, it'll need to go back to the gym for some serious work before showing its face in the ring again. As it is, it dances like a buffalo and stings like wet cabbage.

3 / 10

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Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • crwoody #1 3 years ago

    The dreamcast version was great! How could this fail?

  • secombe #2 3 years ago

    Thank god for that. Between HOTD: Overkill, MadWorld, GTA: Chinatown Wars and the forthcoming release of PES 2009 I was worried about anything else reasonably good coming along in a reasonably short amount of time.

    Shame though, the Dreamcast game was/is superb, spend many an hour on that.
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/09 @ 13:42

  • Wastelander #3 3 years ago

    FFS Legends of Wrestlmania review goddammit EG!

  • Dizzy #4 3 years ago

    Another killer Wii game. :)

  • secombe #5 3 years ago

    Another killer Wii game

    To be fair, at least the Wii does have one very good release today (although EG have given it one of the lowest review scores going, so it's not that obvious if you only read here)

  • Doctor_What #6 3 years ago

    Crap, there goes another reason for me to consider dusting the Wii. I wonder when I'll next even bother to plug it in?

  • secombe #7 3 years ago

    Crap, there goes another reason for me to consider dusting the Wii. I wonder when I'll next even bother to plug it in?

    HOTD: Overkill?
    MadWorld?
    PES 2009 (out soon)?

    I'm expecting the usual "none of those appeal to me" comment, in which case the Wii probably isn't for you.

    I often wonder how much time people have, I still haven't got around to playing/completing World of Goo, Lost Winds, Boom Blox or No More Heroes..and I only have one console!

  • Xerx3s #8 3 years ago

    "The dreamcast version was great! How could this fail?"

    Surely the answer is in the statement. ;)

    /runs for the hills

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #9 3 years ago

    Here's hoping that EA will bring a MotionPlus enabled Fight Night game over to the Wii as this has obviously missed the mark entirely.

  • jonsaan #10 3 years ago

    So annoying. Ready 2 Rumble had the best fighting controls of any boxing game ever. So they broke them. Well done!
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/09 @ 14:12

  • muscleblade #11 3 years ago

    @secombe

    Give it up. None of those games can compete with the newest games on HD consoles. Madworld might be ok but the next game from platinum games might be the best action game this year and it isnt coming to the Wii.

  • andromeda #12 3 years ago

    wiilol

  • mowgli #13 3 years ago

    AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    THE

    WII

    IS

    A

    FUCKING

    JOKE

  • sneetch #14 3 years ago

    @secombe
    HOTD: Overkill?
    MadWorld?
    PES 2009 (out soon)?

    I'm expecting the usual "none of those appeal to me" comment, in which case the Wii probably isn't for you.

    So, just to recap, the Wii is pretty much only for people who like on rails zombie shooters, mega-violent beat-em-ups and soccer games?

    Damn, I was hoping platformers and arcade adventures (or whatever they're called these days) would fit in there too somewhere. :p

  • secombe #15 3 years ago

    @ muscleblade

    Give it up.

    Funny coming from somebody who apparently has no interest in the Wii...in a Wii comments thread.

    I've conceded to the fact that anyone who likes the Wii on EG is like being the awkward cousin with a shady past people like to pretend doesn't exist. What is unfortunate is that the majority appear to ignore the genuinely decent experiences that the Wii has to offer (I personally wouldn't avoid films from a particular studio, yet in gaming this seems to be the norm), take for example, the Wii version of PES 2008. If they could have somehow released that on the 360 or PS3 people would be raving about it as one of the best sports games to this very day. On the Wii though? Very little interest from the so called 'hardcore' here.

  • BonzoBanana #16 3 years ago

    I would of thought this was exactly the sort of game the wii would be great at, if implemented properly. Another weak wii title but the console still sells like hotcakes. Like many have said both versions were fantastic on dreamcast. Superb crisp graphics and great casual style gameplay. I still haven't found enough reasons to put a wii next to my ps3 and 360 though. For the moment I'm happy with my gamecube.

  • Vanmunt #17 3 years ago

    a solid wall of impenetrable, dysfunctional, impossible, self-defeating motion-control idiocy.

    cue wii defence force..

    but, but, but... its sold loads.

  • Krelle #18 3 years ago

    Wastelander
    Its eurogamer, mate. No one cares about Wrestling, lol.


    All of you hating on the Wii: Grow the fuck up. Unlike secombe and others, I agree that the stream of quality games for the Wii is piss poor, but still, why do you badmouth it? It just makes you look like HD-console fanboys, and I assume thats not what you aim for, eh?

    I enjoy the Wii for what it is. Ive got a handful of superb games for it, and every 4 months or so something great is released.
    I use handhelds and/or other consoles when the Wii collects dusts.

    I can somewhat understand that youd be angry if the Wii is your only console, but only the most diehard Nintendo-fanboys (or poor motherfuckers, god bless em) would own just a Wii and nothing else.

  • Eurolamer #19 3 years ago

    Ah ol' lady inevitability. She's a sour bitch.

    This was always going to be pony. No one can make a tongue-in-cheek boxing game it seems aside from Nintendo and the evergreen Super Punch Out (fingers crossed for that remake, please be good)

  • secombe #20 3 years ago

    but only the most diehard Nintendo-fanboys (or poor motherfuckers, god bless em) would own just a Wii and nothing else.

    Stick me in this group, please. I don't claim that the Wii has a deluge of quality titles, but there are a reasonable number of very good games available, clearly. Maybe not enough considering how long the console has been out, but I can't help having the feeling that everything is dismissed by the majority here (the few games that are reviewed well are often ignored by the Wii-haters, funnily enough)

    I personally don't have the time to plough into games any more, so one or two games every few months is plenty enough for me. Fortunately the sort of games I've liked since the days of my 7800 have started finding a home on the Wii - high-score fests I can throw 30 minutes at now and again and keep going back to. If that's not a valid form of gaming, then so be it.

  • Sean.Aaron #21 3 years ago

    "Stick me in this group, please. I don't claim that the Wii has a deluge of quality titles, but there are a reasonable number of very good games available, clearly."

    My position as well. I really see no need for a second console (well, besides Japanese Wii I also have).

    I'm really annoyed that this game fucked it up so badly. I don't get how that's possible. Surely all that was necessary was to use basic left and right punches with button combinations to pull off different kinds of attack -- if you cannot put the kitchen sink in, then don't, play to the strengths of the control system and recognise the weaknesses. This far into the life cycle of the system there is no excuse for a developer not to get this.

  • woodnotes #22 3 years ago

    Atari is still SHIT. Everyone has been giving the company far more praise than it deserves just because of Phil Harrison. Who is, incidentally, the mastermind behind AAA games like Lair and Heavenly Sword.

  • secombe #23 3 years ago

    I'm really annoyed that this game fucked it up so badly. I don't get how that's possible.

    I blame Wii Sports, personally. Beneath the 'basic' gloss it's actually a fairly detailed game as far as the control methods go (Tennis, in particular) and it appears to have hindered development of similar sports games.

    Developers are stuck really, they appear to feel the need to add unnecessary layers of complexity to distance their game from what any Wii owner already has for free via Wii Sports. Unfortunately it's not working (apart from 'soccer', obviously), hopefully MotionPlus will stir things up a bit in that respect.

  • Zomeguy #24 3 years ago

    It's not brown and you can't shoot... 3/10.
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/09 @ 15:34

  • shotgun44 #25 3 years ago

    It's not brown and you can't shoot... 3/10.

    Um... No, the controls and dick and the input slow. Did you read the review?

  • smelly #26 3 years ago

    OH NOOOOEEESS!!!

    A bad 3rd party game.. that MUST mean the console sucks!! And it MUST mean nintendo sucks.. Because i cant tell the difference because i'm a retarded fanboy monkey.

  • smelly #27 3 years ago

    >It's not brown and you can't shoot... 3/10.

    you've got that wrong.. if it was brown and you could shoot things.. you're gauranteed a 10/10 score on this site.. but it doesnt necessarily work the other way around - this game is quite bad, ive played it

  • Sean.Aaron #28 3 years ago

    "Developers are stuck really, they appear to feel the need to add unnecessary layers of complexity to distance their game from what any Wii owner already has for free via Wii Sports."

    I'd agree except that the Wii Sports Boxing wasn't that great (punching down to do a body shot != intuitive), so this really should have been a doddle without adding the extra motion layers.

    Let's try, shall we? punch without button hold = body shot.

    Punch whilst holding Z or B = head shot

    Punch whilst pushing control stick up + c or A = uppercut

    wiimote+nunchuck together = block

    wiimote+nunchuck together + tilt left/right or front/back = lean in different directions (add balance board support for better input!).

    perform "wind-up" movement with nunchuk/wiimote followed by punch motion = Rumble sooper dooper attack.

    QA to ensure this works.

    Done.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #29 3 years ago

    Doctor_What "Crap, there goes another reason for me to consider dusting the Wii. I wonder when I'll next even bother to plug it in? "

    Well there's always good Wii time straight after dinner on the 25th December, when powering up a PS3 would see her pack her bags.

  • zzyzx #30 3 years ago

    I can understand that people who remember the Dreamcast are annoyed with this. But everyone else? For the vast majority, this title rates a "Who cares?"

    Nintendo's Punch-Out Wiimake will be out soon. For those who don't want caricatures, 2k Sports and EA Sports have new titles out soon, also. Chances are, at least one of them will be decent. Especially if EA gives Fight Night the same sort of attention they're giving to their new tennis game and the new Tiger.

    In short - move along, folks. Nothing to see here. If you want a fun boxing game on Wii, you won't have to wait much longer.
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/09 @ 18:01

  • MORZTAN #31 3 years ago

    WOW!!
    I'm truly amazed by the shit that is released on Wii...

    Damn... The console is dying a slow death for the faithfull Nintendo-fans...

  • Sean.Aaron #32 3 years ago

    "Damn... The console is dying a slow death for the faithfull Nintendo-fans..."

    Please don't forget to post this again in a year's time.

  • FogHeart #33 3 years ago

    About a month and a half ago I was burgled. They didn't take much - they seem to have come in and out very quickly and taken what they could carry in a pair of hands. So they only took my old digital camera, a laptop that was a cast-off from work, the Wii and the XBox360. But not the controllers or power supplies or cables. Hm.

    The 360 was given to me by my brother, who wasn't aware of the extended warranty when it RRODed so bought another, then found out and got the original one repaired and gave it to me for a 'nominal' fee. I think he expected to see me online and play some games of COD4 or something. But he never did. And I have only replaced the Wii. I don't intend to replace the 360.

    When my brother urged me to purchase this-or-that game for the 360, I always said the same thing - I'm getting it (or have got it) for the PC instead. I haven't bought any upgrades to the PC for a couple of years, but the graphic quality on medium for most games beats the 360. So I always wondered what the point of paying 20 quid more for lower quality was. Particularly as I would be paying for online play with an....uncouth community.

    There's the ocasional 360 game that doesn't appear on PC, but there are enough eight-or-higher-scoring games out for PC that you can disregard these exclusives and not feel hard done by. I'll just have to tell my brother that I'm not wasting my money again....the WiiPC is all I need.

    So tonight, how do I kill zombies...alongside Agent G or alongside Bill, Louis and Zoey? And will I ever I feel that little tug of regret that makes me think I should buy that second console?

  • zzyzx #34 3 years ago

    The only thing that is dying a slow death is common sense on the internet.

    Actually, scratch that. There's nothing slow about it.

  • smelly #35 3 years ago

    >I'm truly amazed by the shit that is released on Wii...

    Tell me which console you own which obviously isnt the wii.. and i'll point you to some shit games on that - which will "prove" your console is shit...

  • Darren #36 3 years ago

    Yet another third-party Wii game ruined by awful controls?

    *sigh*

    The Wiimote works fine for the handful of first and third party games that use it effectively but too many other games don't. It isn't always the fault of the developer either. The Wiimote just isn't accurate enough IMO to be used in the way it was intended to be by Nintendo. No doubt that is the reason for the accelerometer (or whatever its called) add-on that will launch with Wii Sport 2. That sounds like it will make the Wiimote what it should have been in the first place. When the controls work, the games can be fun, but I've played far, far too many Wii games where the controls are annoying and frustrating because the sensitivity and accuracy just isn't there in the first place.

    Gets kind of annoying that's there's one good game on the Wii to 20 poor ones. Even though I own a Wii, I really do think it's possibly the worst games console to date in terms of quality games. I'm playing through Resident Evil 4 Wii at the moment and enjoying it - the Wiimote is terrific for headshots here - but it saddens me that there's very, very few decent games on the system even from Nintendo.

    What has happened to Nintendo? Seems like they've sold their soul to the devil... :(

  • Darren #37 3 years ago

    @smelly - Well's there's a bit of shit and there's a lot of shit. I'll leave it for to work out which of those best befits the Wii. ;)

  • smelly #38 3 years ago

    >It isn't always the fault of the developer either.

    Yes it is.. The way punch out is controlled sounds perfect.

    and whose fault is it (if not the developers) for not including "standard" controls (like smash bros did)?


    (EDIT: Fixed a rather embarrasing spelling errrrror)
    Edited by 2 at 20/03/09 @ 21:04

  • Nikanoru #39 3 years ago

    Comments on bad Wii game review: "OOLOLOLOLLLLLOOLLLOLOLOL WIILOLOL WAGGLE DUST SUCKS JOKE111 PSTRIPLE IS TRUE HD SERIOUS MATURE CONSOLEZ111 WHY DOES WII SELL SO MUCH I FEEL SO HURT IN MY EGO CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

    Comments on good Wii game review: "Hmmf. Well... who cares if it's good anyway. There's no good games on Wii so there. Stupid waggle. Sniff."

  • smelly #40 3 years ago

    @Nikanoru: Lol.

    I'd stop replying to the trolls.. but it's just getting so repetitive seeing them in every wii thread..

    - one has to wonder about the games on their console of choice if they feel the need to always do this...

  • captain-future #41 3 years ago

    Hmmm, is this the beginning of a trend?

    Phil Harrison leaves Sony and they finally make some good games...

    Phil Harrison joins Atari and they utterly destroy one of the better Dreamcast games... and one of the most iconic games in history... Alone in the Dark too?

    Hmmm?

  • smelly #42 3 years ago

    The more i think about it.. the more this just stinks of the publisher rushing this out before punch out - so as to get some of its sales/hype.. and so confused parents pick up the wrong game by mistake in the store.

  • djed #43 3 years ago

    Keep the trash talk to the pub or something, please. I like reading Eurogamer, but letting this racist bullshit seep into your articles is a little grating.

  • smelly #44 3 years ago

    "I like reading Eurogamer, but letting this racist bullshit seep into your articles is a little grating. "

    I've just re-read the review.. and i'm completely confused as to what you're talking about?

  • zzyzx #45 3 years ago

    "I'd stop replying to the trolls.. but it's just getting so repetitive seeing them in every wii thread.. "

    It's not Eurogamer. It's everywhere. Nothing brings out pre-adolescent insecurity quite like the publication of a new Wii review.

  • djed #46 3 years ago

    @ smelly

    It has no rhythm. It's the white guy on the dancefloor.

  • figaro7 #47 3 years ago

    Atari have been releasing shit for years is anyone really suprised by this?

  • bad09 #48 3 years ago

    This looked poo from day 1 TBH Wii or not. What I don't understand is how such a fun game as R2R can be ruined so much. I played the DC version recently, A bit ropey these days but still a fun fighter.

  • jonsaan #49 3 years ago

    Punch out is irrelevant. It's not a boxing game. It's a very good boss battle game.

  • 3william56 #50 3 years ago

    smelly - he's opressing us poor helpless white folks, insinuating we have no rhythm and can't dance.
    Which Vanilla Ice begs to disagree with, thank you very much Mr Welsh. So there! Ha! Pwned!